Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure, for example, relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to frame configuration for dynamic uplink/downlink switching.
Description of Related Art
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
By way of example, a wireless multiple-access communication system may include a number of base stations, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, otherwise known as user equipments (UEs). A base station may communicate with UEs on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a base station to a UE) and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to a base station).
Wireless communication systems generally use an open medium such that closely located transmissions may cause interference with each other. Interference management is an important component of wireless communication systems. For example, wireless communication systems that use time-division duplexing (TDD) techniques may be synchronized in traffic direction, e.g., all cells are either performing uplink communications or downlink communications. In some situations, it may be beneficial for certain cells to be able to switch communication direction. For example, if there is no downlink data to communicate during a downlink communication frame, switching to an uplink data communication during the frame may improve spectral efficiency. One (or a few) cell(s) switching their communication direction, however, may introduce interference to neighboring cells.